parkera22•15d agoProlific Poster

Showerthought: Are we overdoing mud too much on butted joints?

I read on a manufacturer's spec sheet that drywall compound only needs to be about 1/16 inch thick to actually bond and hide the seam, but I've seen guys lay it on almost a quarter inch thick. Does anyone else think we're wasting time and materials smoothing out extra mud that just cracks anyway?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica_hall4915d ago

Laying it on a quarter inch thick" is exactly what I see too. In my experience, that much mud is just begging to crack or bubble up later, especially on butt joints. You end up spending forever sanding down high spots that wouldn't be there if people just did a thin, clean coat. It's like they think more mud equals stronger joint, but really it's the tape and the bond that does the work, not the thickness. Way too much time wasted on extra coats and sanding that you don't need.

oliver_morgan15d ago

1978 was my first year on a drywall crew and I still say a fat coat on butt joints is the only way to get a flat wall. @jessica_hall49 I get what you're saying about cracking and bubbles but I've had way more trouble with thin coats leaving ridges that need a full sanding pass anyway. Two thick coats and one quick sand beats three thin coats and a lot of frustration. You don't get the same strength with thin mud, the tape needs that extra body to stay flat.

rubyk8614d ago

That line about "the tape needs that extra body to stay flat" really got me thinking. I used to be in Jessica's camp and swore thin coats were the way to go, until I tried doing it your way on a basement remodel two years ago. The thick base coat kept the tape from bubbling and the joints actually looked flat after one light sand, no ridges to fight with. I have to admit I was wrong about the whole "more mud equals more problems" thing.